Tag Archives: blog

Perhaps I’ve been traveling too long and have run out of things to say about Oaxaca, and what would be interesting to know, see and do there. I left Mexico on August 19, 2014, not scheduled to return until early October, another two weeks from now. I am not there, so daily life is not out there in front of me. I fear there’s not much to say that is current or relevant.

I miss Oaxaca. The suitcase life does not suit me. Since I left Mexico, I’ve visited family and friends in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, New Mexico, and now, I’m back in North Carolina. These visits are more than satisfying. They are essential touchstones. There are many more people around the country I want to see and can’t.

In the works are new eyeglasses and a possible knee replacement surgery — a surprising diagnosis. I’m getting three opinions on this surgery. Then, there is getting Rx’s refilled, seeing my dermatologist for the six month skin scan, changing my permanent address for my driver’s license and voter registration, and updating my computer technology — the essentials of life maintenance.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) advice says it’s important to post a blog at least three times a week to keep readers interested.

I hope you forgive me that I’m not able to do this now. If I think of anything relevant to say, I’ll keep you posted!

On November 28, 2007, I started a free WordPress.com blog and posted my first essay there about visiting, traveling and intending to live in Oaxaca, Mexico. Two years earlier, using iWeb on my Apple computer and the clunky URL web.mac.com/normahawthorne/iWeb/ [defunct, not searchable, remember those days], I started my original blog. However no one could find me! So, technically, I’ve been writing this blog for seven years!

Writing regularly is an act of commitment, love of place, and desire to share the experience. I want to mark this anniversary and share with you now what I published on November 28, 2007. I didn’t take as many photos then and most weren’t of publishable quality. Then, I was more interested in the narrative. The times they are a-changin’ — let’s celebrate!

5- Year Celebration Sale with Discount — Good Until December 25, 2012.

Take 15% off any workshop offered through August 1, 2013 (except Felted Fashion Workshop).

Take 15% off any Shop Mexico-Artisan Sisters Items still available.

An explanation: Navigating Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-Hah-Kah), Mexico, is a cultural arts and history experience that requires a certain sense of exploration, discovery and adventure. For me, it is going without a roadmap down the back alleys of a small village to see what I will discover next: a master weaver, an exceptional wood-carver, an accomplished potter or expressive painter. I am open to the experience of creating relationship by appreciating artistic creativity, cultural history, shared values and vision, and the possibility for multicultural exchange. After four visits of several weeks each over the past two years, and an invitation from Federico Chavez Sosa and his family to live with them in Teotitlan del Valle, I begin to call myself “cultural navigator.”

This blog is a way for me to share my experiences with you with the hope that it will excite your interest to visit this extraordinary place and appreciate the rich artistic and cultural traditions of Mexican immigrants. There are great artisans who live on the back alleyways, don’t show up in the tourist guide books, and aren’t willing to pay hefty commissions to have tour guides and tour buses pulling up to their front door. I am motivated to support fair trade so that 100% of tourist dollars go directly to the families who actually create the art.

In the next weeks, we will be preparing to return to Oaxaca through the winter holidays. There will be Posadas and fireworks. The ancient fife player will lead the village band in a Sousa march. Farmers will herd cattle and sheep through the streets. The guacalotes will chortle and the donkey next door will bray at sunrise. We will hike to the reservoir along the river through the bamboo and cactus forest, beyond us Picacho rises above the 6,000 foot plateau with a promise of a new archeological discovery. We will eat handmade tamales con pollo y salsa Coloradito with fresh nopales, and the adventure will begin anew.

Then and Now

Then, blog posts were mostly prose and a few poorly executed photographs

There was no Wikipedia and little reference content to link to — I couldn’t make links happen with iWeb

I was really happy to get 30 or 40 page views a day and an occasional comment

Now, we get 500-600+ page views a day; our top day this year was over 1,800 page views. That’s great for us!

Organizing workshops based in Oaxaca was the flicker of a dream

There was no financial way to support the blog writing

In 2010, I migrated over to a self-hosted WordPress.org website and finally figured out how to use Google ads [last year I netted a whopping $100USD using Google Adsense]

And, then, when we launched a diversified workshop schedule in 2010, I figured out how to use PayPal

Now as then, I’m still a one-person Oaxaca Cultural Navigator band, performing all instruments solo [oh, I should say, sola]

And, I speak much better Spanish, though it could be a whole lot better 🙂

See Us Social

Norma Writes for Selvedge Latin Issue

Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay

Norma Contributes Two Chapters!

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Norma Schafer and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university program development experience. See my resume.

Study Tours + Study Abroad are personally curated and introduce you to Mexico's greatest artisans. They are off-the-beaten path, internationally recognized. We give you access to where people live and work. Yes, it is safe and secure to travel. Groups are limited in size for the most personal experience.

Programs can be scheduled to meet your travel plans. Send us your available dates.

Designers, retailers, wholesalers, universities and other organizations come to us to develop customized itineraries, study abroad programs, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.

Our Clients Include
*Penland School of Crafts
*North Carolina State University
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Maps: Teotitlan + Tlacolula Market

We send printable map via email PDF usually within 48-hours after order received. Where to see natural dyed rugs in Teotitlan del Valle and layout of the Sunday Tlacolula Market, with favorite eating, shopping, ATMs. Click Here to Buy Map